Team Fortress 2

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

"Welcome to Team Fortress 2. After 9 years in development, hopefully it will have been worth the wait. Please let me know what you think after you have a chance to play. I can be reached at gaben@valvesoftware.com, and my favorite class is the Spy"

– Gabe Newell, back when he was cool

"Basically, I'm kind of a big deal."

– Scout

Team Fortress 2 is a class-based team shooter & self-contained economy. It is considered a pillar of video gaming and internet culture in general, and its influence over memes and multiplayer culture can be felt over dozens upon dozens of games.

An Average Payload match.

Relevance to /tg/

So why is this here? TF2 has certainly left its mark on video game culture, but this is a wiki for everything related about traditional games. What does TF2 have to do with that?

Simple answer: TF2 is awesome.

A longer answer would be that TF2 is the pinnacle of the class-based shooter genre. No other game in its genre, no matter how hard they try, has left the sheer footprint in popular culture that TF2 has. Its characters are unique, varied and so customizable that it's hard to find two players playing the exact same way in a match. The characters themselves are extremely memorable in both design and personality. Their voicelines and models have transcended the game they originate from and continue to gather an audience to this very day, even on /tg/.

So yeah, it deserves a page.

Also this.

And this.

Yeah, Heavy is a Neckbeard.

Gameplay

The game is a class-based multiplayer first person shooter. The core objective varies a whole lot depending on what mode you're playing, but ultimately, it's always about BLU team attacking RED team, or both attacking each other to get the upperhand over something. Originally, each player used a different class to occupy a different role, but with balance changes and the addition of new weapons, each class ended fitting a specific niche or get specific utilities depending on the scenarios. TF2 isn't a game of rock-paper-scissors unlike another certain game, but it's mostly a game where some classes can do anything with different loadouts and gameplay styles (like fighting games, somewhat), and some others are stronger in specific modes.

There are nine classes in total. Each of them having their own strenghts and weaknesses. Or rather, some excel at certain tasks, some other specialize in specific playstyles and strategies, other shine in specific scenarios and some need team support to be effective. TF2's balance is all over the place, so much so that the very weapons you chose will define if whether or not you'll play a certain class in a precise manner. Because of the sheer potential of each class to absolutely end up ball-bustingly busted, TF2 ends up becoming a very, very, very chaotic game. How so? For one thing, casual matches are set as 12v12 battles over an objective, with no class-limit and access to a plethora of game-changing or very gimmicky weapons. For a second thing, the TF2 Community has grown very attached to their game, so much so that some may say it's also symbiotic, and the sheer skill and memery they put into their playstyle will surprise the newest of players. TF2 is unlike any other FPS. That is because of it's design and it's community.

Chaos aside, classes are divivded in two different categories;

• Generalists are considered the best all-rounders of the game. Or they are a necessary asset to their team. They usually have a very consistent arsenal, have some very good support options, and have access to excellent movement options. They're great at both attacking AND defending. Such classes are the Medic, who can heal everyone and turn someone invicible for a short duration of time. Scout, who's speed and damage-dealing is yet unmatched. Soldier, who can rocket-jump and deal a lot of hefty damage. And Demoman, who's just good at dishing out damage and moving around the map.
• Specialists, on the other hand, are not all-rounders at all. They usually lack one if not all of the elements that make a Generalist what he is. Or, they're so strange in their design that they can't really be compared to any of the Generalists. Although all of them can deal quite a lot of damage and adequately support their team, the determining factor that makes them Specialists might as well be their lack of movement options. Some can argue that it might because of their unreliability in a competitive scenario, but that's debatable. Classes counting as specialists are Heavy, the best defender in the game but a massive slow tank who eats rockets constantly. Sniper, who's the very concept of glass-cannon incarnate. Pyro, the Jack-of-all-trades who's range falls quite short. Engineer, who's such an oddball of a class in an FPS, he has no know equal. And Spy, the class nobody likes, but everyone wants to play.

Classes

Scout

"Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother? I hurt people."

– Scout, about what he does best.

Scout, also known as Jeremy, The Prison dodger, "Hitting your balls" Jeremiah, That damn fucking fly or Scunt, is a fast and unapologetically annoying courier who's the fastest dude of the bunch. He hits on women all the time, but he's far from being a womanizer, unlike his father. He's also the most athletic person of the bunch, having the innate ability to double-jump on top of being the fastest class.

Scout was named and designed off of one of Team Fortress Quakes developers and Internet personality Jerma.

Scout, as a class, specializes in massive close-ranged damage-dealing, capping, movement, and fight-picking. Meaning he's not only getting into fights, he chooses whether or not he duels you. Scout, with his poor health-pool, relies on his speed to dodge projectiles, enemy fire, and corner his adversaries. However, should he get face-to-face with a Heavy good at aiming, a Soldier who gives him a faceful of rockets or a Demoman who knew he was gonna pass-by, Scout is ultimately gonna hurt.

Scout is considered to be a Generalist. His excellent speed and double-jump allows him to travel maps faster than any other class, and he has tools to greatly enhance his movement. With his ability to pick fights, he can quickly dispose of a distracted enemy with ease, and make the job of his teammates easier. A perfectly balanced class. Except in community maps with all crits and low grav, then he's just pure cancer.

Pros:

• Fast movement speed and double jumping result in some serious mobility. Daring Scouts can even circle-strafe fully-upgraded sentries.
• Dangerous at close range.
• Captures points and payloads at twice the speed of other classes, meaning that well-played Scouts can easily take territory if its poorly-defended.

Cons:

• You're tied with the Engineer, Sniper, and Spy as having the lowest health of all the classes. All it takes is two good hits and you're mulch.
• Your arsenal is only good for close to medium-range combat. At long range? I hope you enjoy pecking at that sentry with that dinky pistol of yours.
• Hard to master. Bad Scouts drop like flies. Good Scouts are a menace to deal with. The path to a being a good Scout is a hard one. As a corollary;
  • Annoying as shit. No matter how skilled you are, the Scout's voice lines will drive you up the wall. Some players will deliberately invoke this with garish clothes and colors and spam as many voice commands as they can, specifically to draw attention away from their more durable allies. This particular clique of neon-colored spastics are designated colloquially by the community as the "Scunt".

Soldier

"If God had wanted you to live, he would not have created ME!"

– Soldier, being objective

Soldier, also known as Jane Doe (yes, he gave himself a female name), Merasmus' roommate, The Real American Psycho, Trolldier, Mr. USA or Solly is a psychotic, dumb and bazooka-loving flanderized version of an American soldier. He specializes in rocket-jumping, team-boosting, "moral support" via his backpacks, and air-shotting, and is such a patriot that he went to Europe to kill some anti-American Nazis, continuing his then-uninterrupted slaughter until someone pointed out to him that the current year was 1949. Soldier is delusional and a very sloppy and unreliable narrator. Whether or not he even had comrades helping him during his massive shootout with the Wehrmacht is debatable, and whether or not he knows WHY he's fighting in the Badlands is an overall different question.

As a class, Soldier is a very versatile character with a huge emphasis on damage-dealing, mild-crowd control, movement and team-boosting. Needless to say, he's one of the handiest classes in the entire game, and can deal hefty amounts of damage to the enemy team. He's considered to be a generalist by the competitive community. Being both good at defense and offense makes Soldier an ideal class for the veterans AND the noobs.

Pros:

• Soldier's rocket-launcher allows him to deal a very decent amount of damage and maneuver himself around the map easily.
• Rocket-jumping isn't easy, but with enough practice, it becomes your greatest advantage against anyone.
• While not tanky, you can definitely take a lot of damage before succumbing. Bad Box loadouts (even post-nerf) can extend this even further.
• Your banners make you a valuable asset for your whole team.

Cons:

• You're slow. If it weren't for your rocket-jumping, you'd only naturally outspeed Heavy.
• You are prone to get yourself cornered easily if your team does not support you.
• Because you’re in the frontline the most often, this also means you’ll be facing the enemy’s strongest defenses or accidentally walking into an Engineer’s nest.

Pyro

"Hmmhmmphfff hmmppphfff hmmmppph!"

– Pyro

Pyro, also known as... Pyro, is a maniacal, psychotic, axe-crazy, flame-loving, man-melting menace who loves everything that burns or can make things burn. He... She... IT probably isn't even a man at all and most likely a monster that uses a fire-hazard suit to guise itself as a man. I mean, one quick look at its cosmetic should tell you everything about Pyro. It has a very specific vision of the world, or well, ITS world, cutely named Pyroland. Some have taken advantaged of their child-like sense of "wonder" (read; morbid curiosity) to employ them into doing various unethical jobs. So far, they're considered to be a wild card by everyone, including their own team. The only three who really appreciate them being Soldier, Engineer and Miss Pauling.

In game, Pyro is a jack of all trades. They specialize in close-range combat, crowd-control, fending off enemies, front-line defense, spy-checking, general assistance and decent damage-dealing. The flamethrower allows them to not only put their opponents aflame, but also to reflect the projectiles of both Soldiers and Demoman, making them a serious menace for the two of them. On top of that, they can undo any sticky-trap, push enemies away or prevent them from progressing, or make Spy's life a living-hell. They're often considered to be Engie's best friend, due to the fact that they possess weapons and tools to help him around with his buildings, most notably the homewrecker which allows them to un-sap buildings.

With all of that said however, Pyro is also one of the most polarizing classes in the game, sharing that reputation with Sniper. This is because of their flamethrower being able to hold ground as long the fire button is held, thus most strategies that worked involved literally holding W and Mouse1 and walking into enemies, seemingly without thought. Good players can counter this playstyle with distance and engineer sentries, and certain classes like Heavy and Soldier are effective at tanking the flamethrower enough to kill your opponent; should the latter use a shotgun to avoid potential bursts.

Pros:

• Jack-of-all-trades class with the basic loadout, so they're not pigeonholed into one duty or another - some loadouts can be more specialized for certain tasks, like ambushing or babysitting sentry nests.
• You're a menace to Soldiers and Demoman once you get a handle on airblasting, as this lets you redirect projectiles right back at them or off to the side. Also the worst nightmare of a Spy, since your flames will set a disguised or cloaked one alight. Remember: your teammates are immune to friendly fire, so hitting them with a 2-3 second flamethrower stream will quickly suss out any impostors.
• Very reliable source of afterburn for the rest of your team, letting you soften up heavier targets and DoT-kill lower health threats. Particularly dangerous if you can get the drop on an opponent, since your constant DPS can chew through their healthbar before they can react.
• One of the more forgiving classes in the game when it comes to mistakes -- you need to reload only on your secondary, you've got decent speed and the third-highest base healthpool, and your weapons are easy to aim and fire.

Cons:

• Very much a short-range class; wide open areas or long corridors are the bane of your existence due to your flamethrower's person-length range (which becomes even shorter when moving forward due to the flames' behaviour), particularly if there are Snipers in the area.
• Engineer's sentries or Heavy's massive healthpool are both hard counters to Pyro, as they can either tank damage long enough to kill them or beat them in the damage race; the former is best left to your teammates, while the latter should be avoided or ambushed then circle-strafed if possible. Soldiers and Demos can also pose a threat thanks to explosive splash damage or ill-timed airblasts.
• Something of a skill gated character. Mitigating your weaknesses needs a lot of work-arounds, wisdom, and experience as opposed to swapping to a different class when the going gets tough, and airblasting (your biggest hard counter to Demos, Soldiers, and anyone near hazardous terrain) is difficult to get a hang of.
• Expect to see a lot of people yelling "W+M1!" at you, with or without justification.

Demoman

"Oh, they gon' tuh have to glue yue back togetha', IN HELL!"

– Demoman, after he gibs (You).

Hailing from Ullapool, Scotland, Demoman, also known as Tavish Degroot, Captain KABEWM, Demopan, Delak's favourite, Average Scrumpy Appreciator or simply Demo is a Black Scottish Cyclops. They got more feckin’ monsters in the Great Loch Ness than they got the likes of him. Working four different jobs to support his financially stable and blind mother and treat the many acres of land he owns, Demoman finds joy in pure slaughter, demolition, and demolition accessories. If it wasn't for his raging obession with alcohol, he'd be considered one of the "sanest" member of Team Fortress. Well, he's a massive workaholic on top of an alcoholic, and he's such of an addict that he turned his whole body into a distillery.

Don't ask him about his haunted eye-socket.

Demoman, as a class, is the apex predator of TF2. No, this article was not written by a Demomain. We're just not joking. Demoman's role in the team revolves around hefty damage-dealing, crowd-control and movement. And he's good at all of that. No kidding. He's insanely powerful. And for that reason, he's considered to be a generalist. All of his grenade launches deal massive damage on a direct hit, more than the soldier’s rocket-launcher. His stickies, when stacked, deal such damage that no one in a 2 meter radius survives.

Well, okay, we're exaggerating a little… In truth, he is a very good trap artist that can control territory better than a Pyro or potentially an Engie by using his stickies to hide secret explosives for enemy trespassers. Not just that, but his grenade launcher’s timed explosives can be used to toss your projectiles with the source engine, potentially killing targets with physics, allowing your grenade to roll under them and explode before they can get out.

Pros:

• You're insanely powerful and can insta-kill people with a well placed sticky-trap.
• You're a very versatile class.
• You're able to maneuver yourself around the map very easily.
• Insane crowd-control.
• Can get busted with the right items.

Cons:

• All of your weapons, to the exception of your melees (except one), damage you. Thus, you're effective only at mid-range.
• Grenades and sticky bombs can be reflected or pushed back by Pyros.
• Grenades are affected by gravity and bounce off objects, so mid to long-range combat can be a pain in the ass.

Demoknight

"There can only be oooooooone!... eye..."

– Should you hear this in a match, RUN.

Should you decide to drop your your stickybomb launcher for a shield (and optionally drop your grenade launcher a pair of boots), you become the Demoknight, arguably the most accomplished of all the sub-classes in this game.

The Demoknight's role revolves around unconventional combat to gain a killstreak through a style of fighting many wouldn’t expect. Using a trusty shield to charge quickly into an enemy while charging your sword for a guaranteed crit, you take the heads of your victims to strengthen you. Other swords will either heal you or increase the duration of your charge. The catch? You’ll be playing a First Person Shooter without a gun, so expect to die. A lot.

Pros:

• Chaining kills will make you more durable, either by increasing your maximum health (almost to the Heavy's HP) or healing you up.
• You'll be a little faster than a Scout, and that's without taking into account the charges. Complex techniques like trimping can let you get into places most people wouldn't expect.
• 90% of casual players tend to shit themselves in shock when a psychotic, drunk Scotsman suddenly drops onto their head and starts swinging a sword at them, so you can easily hack through their health while they panic.

Cons:

• Again, you have no guns in a first-person shooter. Forgoing the boots in favor of your grenade launcher can help, but you lose the ability to set traps.
• Sentry nests are now the bane of your existence, as are Heavies. You just can't match them in terms of damage output even without the rest of the enemy team being on your ass, so trying to attack one will get your ass mulched.
• Easily the single most skill-reliant class in the game. Learning when to GTFO, who to avoid, how to trimp, and the terrain of each map (particularly where to trimp) is essential to using this subclass at all, because you will die without being able to use these skills.

Heavy

"Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe… Maybe… I've yet to meet one who can outsmart bullet."

– Heavy reflecting on his percieved lack of brains. Which he doesn't lack at all.

Heavy, also known as Misha, The Pootis Man, The Baby-Fighter, Mr. "I give my weapons names", Hoovy or The entire Russian block is a large, build-a-bear, living weapon of mass destructions and an avid sandvich(sic) connoisseur. Hailing from an unknown part of Russia, he at some point earned a PHD in Russian literature, before he got a job as an artillery man to get enough money to feed his family, who were stuck in the mountains chasing bears. GIANT bears. That's the wholesome part of Heavy. The psychotic part of him comes in the form of his genuine love and care for his guns, which thankfully comes only second to his family. Him and Sasha are considered the face/mascot of TF2 as whole, the two being promoted a lot in ads and official art.

Heavy in game is a slowpoke. He's a Tank and excels in Defense, mild-support, halting the enemy team, and considerable damage-dealing. With Pyro and Sniper’s Uzi, he shares one of the only automatic weapons in the game, which is the most powerful: The Minigun. A god-send for anyone who knows how to properly rev it up and time his shots. While Heavy uses a shotgun as a secondary, he's also gifted with the third most practical source of health in the entire game: The Almighty Sandvich. He has the most health of the entire bunch, and serves as a literal wall of flesh and guns for anyone who crosses his path.

He has one small issue, though… He is Way. Too. Fat.

Heavy is HUGE. Meaning in a game that rewards good aim, he's massive, moving, shouting target. If a Heavy shows up on his own in the middle of a battle without proper support, he becomes everyone's main priority and dies appropriately seconds later. He's oftentimes the victim of Sniper's headshots, Spy's backstabs, Engie's sentry, Pyro's fire and airblasting, Demo's explosives, Soldier's Direct Hit, and Scout's general mosquito-like attitude. Heavy NEEDS team support to be effective. He can only take care of a target at a time, and requires that the enemy team is distracted enough for them not to take him together. So, ironically, Heavy is arguably one of the most experience reliant classes, despite initially seeming to be a good beginner class. Playing as Heavy really requires you to understand the layout of maps and how to maximize every drop of survivability from pickups. Due to this, a good Heavy can pubstomp casual servers, but he struggles hard in competitive due to him being considered a Specialist, built for long defenses but not as good at pushing.

Pros:

• Fuckhuge health pool, easily the highest in the game when overhealed.
• Strong damage output on the minigun, particularly if you know when to rev it up. If ubercharged, you're a poorly-coordinated defending team's worst nightmare, as you can easily rip through sentry nests for the duration of the uber.
• The Sandvich lets you take a bit of heat off the Medic or keep yourself alive in a pinch.
• Your presence in a fight can take the heat away from other friendly combat classes.

Cons:

• You're a big target, so expect everyone to be gunning for you when you show up. You will need a Medic at your back and maybe a couple others flanking you if you don't want to be shanked, sniped, or shoved via explosion/airblast to your doom.
• You're slow, so expect to lag behind the team on assaults.
• Your main gun needs to rev up before firing, so sudden enemy ambushes can tear through your health before you can react. God help you if a Backburner Pyro or regular Spy gets the drop on your ass.

Fat Scout/Shotgun Heavy

"I have seen other team, he is us! But itty bitty."

– Red Fat Scout talking about Blu Scout

What happens when a Heavy trades his sandwich for a shotgun? Well you get the Fat Scout. The Fat Scout is actually surprisingly powerful (in casual mode, don't get any ideas competitive players) because most enemies when they see a Heavy they expect a slow lumbering target they can easily avoid, but now Fat Scout, free from the constraints of his minigun slowing him down is a fast (for a Heavy) offensive fighter who can chase down Soldiers, Demomen and those pesky Spies.

Pros:

• No (or less) minigun use means that you can move without it's rev speed penalty.
• Enemies will underestimate how fast a heavy can be, especially with the Gloves of Running Urgently.
• Shotguns are still powerful, ask the Engineer mains, you can still point blank kill most classes quickly.

Cons:

• Requires good single target aim with the shotgun, which if you spend most of your time playing as *Heavy you'll have developed less since Heavies require tracking skill instead.
• Minigun damage is still way higher.
• Reloading time can be your downfall.
• No sandwich.

Engineer

"Don't worry boys, the Engineer is engihere!"

– Engineer, being Engineer.

The Engineer, also known as Dell Conagher, Sentry Man, Mr. Brains over Brawns or Engie is a formidable technician hailing from Texas, and descendant of long running line of inventors and craftmen. Matter of fact, if it weren't for his ancestors, nothing of what happens in TF2 would have happened at all! With twelves P.H.Ds under his belt, Engineer created three of the most practical things a human could possibly dream of; a teleporting device, an ammo and health dispenser, but most importantly, the man-shredding sentry. Thankfully he’s also a very stable individual with a ”Go Get ‘Em” attitude that you can’t help but smile at.

As a class, Engineer is... Well...Peculiar.. His role is fairly unique. Unlike his peers, Engineers mostly focuses around creating a solid front-line and install Areas of Denial anywhere he goes! His "versatility" as a class comes to how you decide to use his tools. Engie's role practically revolves around creating spaces for his teammates to restock and re-engage, provide a way to reach the ever-moving frontline quickly, or halt the progression of the enemy team.

In the community, Engineer is seen as a fantastic dwarf. Let's just say that he's so bizarre as a class in an FPS that pretty much everyone agrees he's good in Casual or Highlander. Engimains get absolutely demolished in competitive. This is because the he's so dependent on his buildings that it becomes harder for him to be of any use without them. On top of that, most of his buildings take time to... Well, build. And in many cases, they won't serve a useful purpose to your team at all. With half of the cast being able to zoom to the other end of the map hastily and ammo being more bountiful with more players, Engie's buildings aren't as necessary before. In a casual try-hard setting however, they are kings... Or so some would let you think. Engie depends a lot on the very people he supports, with a solid team, good resource management, great positioning and excellent decision making; Engineer makes for a powerful ally.

Pros:

• Your buildings can solidify the frontline.
• With good management, Engineer becomes better.
• You have decent offensive options.
• THE WRANGLER; you protect your sentry with a defensive bubble and allows you to control the sentry’s aim with manual control.
• You get the most out of any support you get AND provide.
• Your Sentry at level 3 can be a mighty force of reckoning for most classes. Dedication is needed to take one out, as well as exploitation.

Cons:

• Two classes are designed specifically to hunt you down. That won’t stop everyone else from trying to destroy your sentry nest.
• Not for the faint of heart. Prepare to panic a whole lot when ANYTHING happens to your buildings.
• You don't have a lot of movement options except for the Eureka Effect (leaves you vulnerable in a taunt) and Wrangler-Jumping (which takes a lot of practice)
• You can be very vulnerable without your sentry.
• You're not very likely to fit in competitive.
• NEED A DISPENSER HERE!

Battle-Engie

"Sometimes, you just need a little less gun."

– DATS A ZOGGIN' LIE

So what happens when someone decides that it’s not worth defending their team? What if you want to say “Fuck it. I have a shotgun!”? Well, enter the Battle Engineer. By trading your right arm for a robotic Gunslinger, you turn your previously upgradeable sentry into a quickly-deployable mini sentry with enough metal to create a second one immediately after the first one is destroyed. With your plethora of shotguns that can either promote sentry kills like the Frontier Justice, or good aim like the WidowMaker. In addition, you get an additional +25 health for some added tankiness.

Pros:

• You can be very annoying like a Scout with your mini sentry shooting in conjunction with you.
• The Shotgun is a very powerful weapon in the right hands, with the burst fire dealing good damage up close to an enemy and a plethora of options to choose from.
• Engineer still has access to his Dispenser and Teleporter, all of which are still very valued to the team.
• Engineer becomes much more mobile and aggressive, as they're no longer reliant on babysitting a level 3 sentry for their primary damage output.

Cons:

• You do not have a lot of health, even with the Gunslinger’s 25+.
• The minisentry isn’t as strong as a level 1; maybe more fragile. It will break a lot.
• You give up a lot of defensive capability and territory control to play like a slower, less agile Scout.
• Sometimes, less gun will get you killed.

Medic

"That... was doctor-assisted homicide!"

– Medic, recommending you to play Battle-Medic, which you shouldn't do.

The Medic, also known as Dr. Ludwig or DOKTOR, is a medical student from Stuttgart, Germany during a period when the Hippocratic Oath was more of a "Hippocratic Suggestion". Considering the setting, it's been heavily implied that he might have been an actual Nazi (though officially he has never associated with them, partly because it was too easy of a joke). In any case, a doctor with a callous disregard of life is exactly what you'll be wanting as the Medic will often be tagging alongside other characters, dispensing healing when needed like the healbot he is.

Mechanically, there's likely one thing the Medic will be stuck on more than anything else: The Medigun. A singular beam of continuous healing energy, this not only helps restore health to wounded allies, but also provides a temporary measure of overhealing for a buffer of protection from more serious attacks. Healing also gives charge to a secondary feature to the Medigun called the Ubercharge. The original Medigun's Ubercharge gives both the Medic and his patient temporary invincibility, but there are alternatives that provide different boosts. As for the other guns, the Syringe Gun and the Bonesaw, don't focus on them unless you're planning on using them to supplement the Ubercharge.

Of course, Medics are a necessary fixture in the game's meta as he is the most reliable means of healing in a game made well before automatic healing was even considered mandatory. Your healing will be in such high demand that you'll find yourself needing to prioritize who should be healed more and especially who's more deserving of the Ubercharge. This is also the ultimate weakness of the Medic, as he is a dedicated healer and won't be of much use without someone to fight for him. Sure, there's other guns and a natural healing factor because healer, but that won't stop a Sniper from turning that head into a pulpy red mess.

Pros:

• Mediguns give your team the single most consistent source of healing in the game, so you can keep people alive on maps/modes with 20-second respawn times.
• Can be the deciding factor in whether your side wins or loses a match, since you can keep great players alive or pop an ubercharge to help your team break through a particularly strong defence.
• Grab an Ubersaw and a Crusader's Crossbow, and become God. The former gives you 25% Uber on hit while the latter extends Medic's healing range greatly and lets you punch back surprisingly hard, at the cost of having to deal with ammo and arcing projectiles.

Cons:

• Being a high value target with useful support abilities, Medics will always be a priority target for the opposing team, especially Spies. Entire matches can be decided on a well-timed Ubercharge, and a single Medic can mean the difference between surviving for the next push or waiting 20 seconds to respawn.
• Medics are not built for fighting. Ubersaw: CRIT 195. In all seriousness, while the Medic can dish out a surprising amount of damage, he is not meant to go in guns blazing.
• Expect to get sick of people screaming "MEDIC!" after the first few games.
• Playing Medic is a thankless job. No one really looks out for you, but they expect you to keep them alive through anything and everything, and then blame you for their death because they fucked up when you ubered them or because they left you high and dry then got killed the moment you weren't healing them.

Sniper

"Sniping’s a good job mate. It's challengin' work, outta doors, and a guarantee you won't go hungry."

– Sniper, on his job.

Hailing from the mythic land of New Zealand before being sent to Australia to be raised by farmers, Mr Mundy fancies himself a professional assassin and a polite bloke you can have a cold one with. His job ensures a meal and a gun, as he travels alone in his camper van to his next destination. This makes him somewhat less of a team member in this game as most Snipers players will be on their own, picking targets off the enemy team while avoiding the same fate themselves. Their trusty Sniper Rifle gives the player the ability to automatically Krit upon a headshot; dealing 3x the damage. Combine this with the fact that your rifle charges its shot while scoped in, means you can deal 450 damage to anyone on a Headshot! No Medic is going to save you from that!

Not only is our ol’ sniper equipped with his trusty gun, but he has several pitch weapons to deal with anyone cocky enough to take you on. Your trusty kukri knife will make sliced beef out of any spy while the Jarate covers your foes in your piss, dealing minikrits on all damage for a limited time. You can even give up your gun/jar for a little shield that can protect you from Spies(Razorback), Pyros(Darwin’s Danger Shield), or allaround damage(Cozy Camper). In competitive play Sniper is considered a Specialist due to his fragile nature, but he still sees some plays as a quick switch to kill a Medic.

Pros:

• With good skill, you can pinpoint kill any threat to your team from a distance. The enemy has to respect YOUR line of sight, lest they are forced to wait another 20 seconds. This includes overhealed Heavies, Rocket-Jumping Soldiers, Medics ready to charge, and even catch Demomen or Engineers off guard with a good angle.
• Your plethora of options means you can play with or without headshotting style. The Huntsman gets rid of the long range in favor of a more combative playstyle!
• As long as you can get a headshot from a scope, you can do it in close range as well!

Cons:

• You have low HP like the Scout and the Engineer. You will get killed if a soldier or demoman decide to take their battle up close and personal.
• You are a magnet to every sniper and spy in the game. All Snipers are your rival, and never forget that; also remember to watch your back, as Spies love delivering a dose of surprise buttsecks into your vulnerable rear.
• Sometimes hits just won’t register right, or register in your favor. This is an old game, so expect some hitboxes to weirdly work or not.
• Expect to be spammed by bot snipers spinning out of control more often than not.

Spy

"Well? Off to visit your mother!"

– Spy, being French.

The Spy; also known as Frenchie, Turncoat, an Alley-Skulkin’ Backstabber, SPAH, a Shape-Shiftin’ Rat, a Handsome Rogue or Spycrab, is a French enigma, constantly hiding behind a suit and balaclava. Nobody knows what he is or who he is loyal to, as he is trained to play both sides of any conflict at a moment's notice. Even worse is that he has a special disguise kit in the form of a cigarette case, equipped with masks that let him shapeshift into the form of anyone else, be they friend or foe, nurturing very (un)healthy bouts of paranoia.

As a class, the Spy is very dependent on execution, needing to get in close for the kill. The only gun he has is a revolver, while perfectly accurate, is slow to fire accurately. Similarly, his butterfly knife isn't very strong but it has the unique trait of backstabbing, allowing a spy to instantly kill anyone he hits from behind. To actually get within killing range, you'll need the tools: The aforementioned disguise kit allows a Spy to transform into anyone else he can wish, as the watch can render the Spy invisible for a moment of time but runs on a limited battery, and the sapper gives a way to automatically sabotage and destroy an enemy Engineer's contraptions.

Among all the classes, the Spy is considered divisive depending on how good one can get playing him. On one hand, he's very flimsy and not very capable at fighting with only a revolver and knife, and those who know about what a Spy can do will know how to spot one and will punish him once spotted. On the other hand, those abovementioned tools give him plenty of ways to harass and distract an enemy in unexpected ways, perhaps playing in ways that leave one to ask if he was actually taken out. Most people consider Spy to be a Specialist, but Sniper is believed to be the better choice for a pick class and in competitive Scout is the go to flanker-pick class, but he still sees use for checking the enemy teams Über. Whether the spy is good or bad, you’ll always be watching your back once you know he’s around…

Pros:

• When a Spy scores a backstab, most things don't get back up from it.
• Disguises and invisibility are perfect for playing mind games with the enemy.
• Sappers are tailor-made for messing with Engineers; most of them will bolt straight to their buildings when a sapper goes on, leaving them wide open for a cheeky backstab if no-one else is around.
• By exploiting an extension of a player model’s back, you can perform “Trickstabs” to kill opponents through your agility and cunning.
• Ultimately, playing a Spy perfectly makes you look like a goddamn master chess player.
• Similarly (But better at this) to Sniper and Heavy (With a Medic), a good Spy rules the game by his presence alone, making sure that his enemies are always on the lookout.

Cons

• Spies' health is shit and their direct damage dealing capabilities are only slightly better than a literal butter knife. If you're caught, you'd better have a good plan.
• Your many tools can be easily foiled by a few easy ways that most people can tell and prepare for. Pyros in particular are good at this, as their anti-sapper tools and flamethrowers make them your worst fucking nightmare.
• While Spies do have plenty of gear slots, only two of them are actual weapons.
• The learning curve between understanding the tools and the enemy team will mean that bad plays will reward you with frequent deaths.

Civilian

"If you win this match, I'll give you a share in my oil company! A small one, mind you."

– John D. Rockefel- Civilian.

Well okay, he's isn't "canon" to TF2. But if Valve finally decided to do something about TF2 Classic, he might as well be! The Civilian is a british V.I.P. and a very wealthy C.E.O. of a multitude of companies across the globe. Unlike many of his peers (or, maybe just like his peers), he absolutely adores bloodsports, oftentimes commenting matches of mercenaries and other assassins killing each other for money. He's also fat, weak and defenseless, only being able to give "moral boosting" to those around him.

The Civilian is the star of the scrapped VIP mode, rendered only playable by the mega-project that is TF2 Classic. As a class he can't do much but give a small mini-crit and speed boost to those he points at. He can also defend himself with his umbrella, but he's as effective in melee-combat as a T'au. His role essentially boils down to being a living, breathing and intelligent payload controlled by a player. He's the only capable of capping certain points and he does so at a relatively fast pace. However, the entire team must baby-sit him into not getting killed.

Pros:

• You're rich.
• The boosts.
• You're quite fast.
• You're good at capping.

Cons:

• The entire team must carry you to victory.
• You're extremely vulnerable.

Mercenary

"Alright, who's the wise guy who just signed his own death warrant!?"

– The man born to be wild.

Although primarily featured in the fan-game of the fan-game of the game, the Mercenary, also known as Merc, is the star of Open Fortress and could very well be featured in TF2 Classic. The Merc is as much of a mystery as spy, as neither his name, age, origin or even motive is known. What we do know of him is that he's a massive movie nerd, oftentimes quoting his favorite films when fragging people, and usually likes acting like hot shit. He's also the only class you can play (usually) in the Quake-style deathmatch mode of the game.

As a class, the Mercenary would be considered to be a generalist. Having access to tons of different guns and having the innate ability to naturally bunny-hop throughout the map without having to deal with TF2's inner code "preventing" such exploits. In Classic Mode, the Merc is either equipped with a tommy-gun or a shotgun. He uses a revolver for a secondary, and a crowbar for a melee. He's... Very average. As in, he doesn't strike as a unique class among the others. With that being said however, his b-hopping abilities make him a very viable asset to his team. The only thing preventing him from dominating the other enemy team being the map he's on, or sentry nests.

Of course, him being the sole character playable in regular deathmatch, he's just average. He can gather "pills" that greatly enhance his healthpool and his overheal takes more time to drain. He isn't great or bad in this mode, he's just what everyone uses. All of his weapons are especially busted, and some are variations of existing ones used by other classes. For example, he can use a rocket-launcher with enhanced practically in regards to rocket-jumping, a railgun that doubles itself as either a sniper rifle or a regular one-shotting railgun, a minigun that takes less time to rev up, a SUPER SHOTGUN, a double-barreled with a hook to catch other players, etc. etc.

Pros:

• You're average in every concievable way, but you're very versatile.
• BUILT-IN, ENHANCED, SUPPORTED B-HOPPING. This will allow you to speedrun your way throughout entire maps without the use of any weapons, making you just as fast (if not faster) than a Scout.
• Your overheal drains out slower than normal.
• You have access to a plethora of weapons, some of which are overhauled weapons of other classes specifically redesigned for you...

Cons:

• ... but they're only available in Deathmatch.
• Well, in general, Deathmatch is the only mode in which the Merc truly shines. Mostly because he's the only one featured.

Gamemodes

Team Fortress 2 has four main gamemodes (Payload, King of the Hill, Control Points, Capture the Flag), each of which is a team-based objective centered around capturing points or advancing through a map. This also applies to the alternate gamemodes, of which there are several.

Payload

There's a big fucking bomb on rails and a big fucking bomb slot in the middle of RED's base. BLU wants to get the bomb there and shove it into their hole, RED wants to avoid getting that bomb jammed up their ass. The attacking team has to cluster around the bomb to 'push' it forward and capture multiple control points, with the exact speed at which it moves varying depending on the number of people riding the cart. If the cart isn’t pushed for a while, it will move backwards to the last captured point. If it’s on a slope when it’s not being pushed, then gravity does it for you.

Some maps like Goldrush, Hoodoo, or Thunder Mountain will span 3 stages across a single large map, while others like Badwater Basin, Frontier, or Upward will be one long map with multiple points. Frontier gets a special mention because its payload is a train with a set of teeth at the front called Li’l Chew Chew that you sent to blow up in Red’s Base.

Payload Race

Payload, but there's two holes and RED also has a payload to push. The first one to get their payload to its detonation point wins the game, so expect to see everyone running off to impede their enemy's payload while the cart sits on its own. Most games played will take place in High Tower, which is considered one of the more fun maps by the community’s standpoint.

King of the Hill

There's a single control point in the middle of the map. Both teams have a 3:00 minute timer that only decreases when they own the point; whoever holds the point when their clock hits zero wins.

Control Point (A.K.A.: 5CP)

Both teams fight over the same 5 control points in a single map, with the victor being declared by who captured all of them in a game. 2 points will lead to each team’s base while the final one is dead center for everyone to fight over. Typically these games are symmetrical for both sides as players need to know when to start grabbing points, or defending a contested one. The more captured points a team has, the faster they can take the next one. Playing a Scout or a soldier/demoman with a Pain Train equipped will count as 2 players capturing, allowing for quicker captures and risky plays. While most games have 5 control points, Powerhouse may be the only map to have 3 points instead.

Attack/Defend

Both teams take turns playing the role of Attacker (BLU) and Defender (RED). The objective of the game is to defend all of the Control Points from BLU before they can occupy the point long enough to declare their capture. Once both teams have taken their turn, the winner is declared based on the points you captured before loading into a similar map to do it again.

The first and final control point will always be near the spawn of the BLU and RED teams, respectively. The reason behind this is pretty simple: the terrain initially plays heavily to RED's advantage by giving them all of the strong defensive positions to camp their sentries, high ground for mid-long range classes to exploit, and few to no barriers into essentially spawncamping BLU's base. BLU players must fight back against all odds before they gain the upper hand, with the final point almost always being RED's last stand.

(For example, Dustbowl's third section features a pre-built bunker for RED's sentries and no barriers on the way into BLU's starting area, meaning that a powerful assault can drive BLU all the way back to their spawn and keep them locked in there if there's good coordination between the RED members. By contrast, the final point has very little cover for RED to hide behind and a set of buildings around a blind bend which BLU can set up sentries and teleporters in, along with an ambush route that lets the BLU team bypass the only bridge across to the point.)

Some games will have just one set of points in a large map to capture (Steel, Gravel Pit, Gorge, etc.) while others take place over a set of 3 parts (Egypt, Dustbowl, Erebus, etc). There is also a medieval version that removes most guns (spare the primitive ranged weaponry like crossbows or bows and arrows) in favour of storming a castle with your melee.

Arena

Arena is a combat-oriented gamemode where both teams fight to the death, with a single capture point that has to be taken to also win the game. The catch is that it only unlocks after one minute and anyone dead is left to spectate until the game ends. This is for the players who want a more tactical, teamwork-focused version of KOTH/CP with rules similar to Counter Strike, another game by Valve.

This is also used in various community mods; like one where Blu team is a single player controlling a powerful opponent like Saxton Hale, and the Red team has to work together to defeat him before they’re all killed. There is also one where everyone is a spy looking for a murderer in the midst, or the mod where one team is a bunch of harmless props that have to hide from a team of hunters in a version of hide n seek.

Capture the Flag

The enemy team has a briefcase full of intel in their base. Your job is to get that fucking briefcase, then haul it back to your base and deposit it in your intel room while the other team simultaneously tries to take yours. If you can't get it back in time, it returns to the original base. First team to three captures wins.

While it's a good gamemode overall, the most popular of the maps (2Fort) is also kinda notorious among hardcore players for hours-long, bloody stalemates and causing new players to embrace the worst parts of their class (Snipers camping battlements, Engineers setting up nests and never moving from them, etc.) There's also no protection against outright spawncamping of the "Station a Heavy and three sentry guns outside the only door" kind on many of the CtF maps, so you'd better hope That Guy isn't on your enemies' side.

PASS Time

Football, hockey, and basketball meet bloodsports. You're meant to carry a ball known as the JACK across the map and score at the opposing goal, but barely anyone plays this fucking thing.

Medieval Mode

You ever wanted to know what it'd be like if TF2 was a medieval fantasy rather than a hat collection simulator? If you do, welcome to Medieval Mode and its attendant map, Degroot Keep. The basic gimmick is that the classes aren't allowed any 'modern' tech, only 'medieval' stuff like melee weapons, crossbows, or shields; the attackers also have near-instant respawn to compensate for the defenders' heavy terrain advantage. One side has to attack and capture two control points to the side of the big ol' castle, then get past the main gate to capture the last central control point in the castle's keep itself. If they can take this last point within 60 seconds, the attackers win; if not, the gate closes and they have to recapture the other two points before trying again.

Thanks to the above restrictions, this means it's an absolute paradise for Demoknights, Spies, and Huntsman-equipped Snipers, with plenty of Rip and Tear to go around on all fronts; it's also probably where you'll pull off your first trimp-jump, thanks to the rocks there being designed specifically to facilitate long charge-jumps up onto the walls. The final control point in particular is a great place to experience what being a Khornate Berserker is like up close and personal, as it inevitably devolves into a mosh pit whenever the gate opens up.

Mann vs. Machine

The only proper "Cooperative" mode, in which a team of six players is pitted against several waves of AI-controlled robots. The bots want to try and bring a bomb across the map to the Control Point you're defending; defeating them makes them drop cash, which can then be used to upgrade your abilities and weapons. You also have to fight powerful "Boss" robots with unique gimmicks at the end of each level as well as facing mid-wave minibosses like Tanks (durable but slow bombs on tracks,) meaning that team cohesion and good loadouts are crucial to this mode.

This mode also has a rather different meta to the main game due to the upgrades system and enemies, with otherwise fairly mediocre weapons becoming robot-mulching superweapons and the potential for every class to play its part (though Engineers and Mad Milk Scouts are pretty much auto-includes). Completing Tours of Duty (by spending RL money on one-use tickets) also ensure you get a random Strange-quality "Botkiller" stock weapon, with a very small chance for the coveted Australium weapons to drop from the highest-difficulty campaigns.

Miscellaneous

These poor bastards are the game modes that never really got out of beta or just aren't popular enough to justify their own options on the gamemode choice menu.

Special Delivery

Capture the Flag meets Payload. BLU needs to capture a neutral briefcase and drag it to a control point on a platform, which will slowly rise to the top of a rocket. If it reaches the top and the rocket launches, BLU win; if the timer runs out without the platform reaching the rocket's top, RED wins.

Territorial Control

The much-maligned meeting of Control Point, Attack/Defend, and KOTH, Territory Control's gimmick is that the game takes place in several different "territories" of a map known as Hydro. Each territory has only one control point, and capturing it captures the territory. Once a territory is capped, the map's layout is changed slightly (so unlike Dustbowl, you won't be fighting in the same order of environments every match) and the fight moves on to the next territory. Rinse and repeat until the final point is captured by BLU or a successful defence is made by RED.

Despite being a pretty cool concept and one of the first six maps ever, a mixture of badly-explained rules, confusing layouts that led to rounds becoming steamrolls or stalemates (seriously, people got lost here even after the devs put in labelled signs; it was entirely possible to find and cap the point by accident within seconds of the round start), and the Control Points gamemode being "Territory Control, but without the flaws and more maps to play" pretty much resulted in Hydro being abandoned by developer and player alike mere months into TF2's launch, beyond the occasional achievement hunter or curious player. An ironic fate, for a gamemode intended to be infinitely replayable by the devs.

Player Destruction

Kill people and pick up the gubbinz they drop, then drop these gubbinz in a central collection point. Which the other side also uses, so be ready to get killed mid-deposit and have your points stolen.

Robot Destruction

Basically Player Destruction, but with NPC robots and the chance to steal briefcases containing enemy points. Can you tell why these never really caught on yet?

Fanmade Modes

These are the gamemodes cooked up by the community. While they're limited to unofficial community servers and the like, they're still pretty damned cool and are definitely worth a try.

Zombie Fortress

A zombie-survival fan mode where players try to run away through a map whilst other players are zombies and try to kill them. Those killed join the Zombie team and try to kill their former teammates.

Balloon Race

A fan variation map for capture the flag featuring two flying ships with hot air balloons, similar to the ones the Horde used between Orgrimmar and Undercity in World of Warcraft. The players shoot at each other whilst riding the balloons, and try to capture the flag at specific stops.

Deathrun

A fan gamemode where players try to rush through a death course with only one life, while a single member of the opposite team controls traps throughout the course.

Slender Fortress

A fan gamemode where the living team is in a Multi-player version of Slender, with multiple monsters from either other franchises or tailor-made for Slender Fortress controlled by AI hunts them. Those who are killed can watch as ghosts to try and help the living, or go to the opposite team in a separate area that's supposed to be a safe place near where the monster lurks.

Wargame/RPG Ideas

While no such Team Fortress RPG or Wargame exists, there have been many unfinished fan attempts and ideas, and generally the idea of a 9v9 TF2 skirmish game in the vein of Kill Team would certainly be fun.

Ork Kill Team discovers and copies ancient Terran wargame